The wacky weather was at work once again! We went from snow pants to T-shirts in a few days. We sure enjoyed the warmer temperatures, and took advantage by spending as much time outside as possible. There were several construction projects on site, from brick and mortar walls to city skyscrapers. We were visited by the superheroes Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, and Black Widow, who enjoyed showing off their strength and skills. There were lots of running games, bike riding, digging, making mud soup, and vampires as well. 
The Monday students marbled paper for art by squeezing paint drops on water, swirling it, then gently laying their paper on top to print. They made some truly beautiful pieces.
Timelines were introduced on Tuesday, and many children made season timelines with pictures of winter, spring, summer, and fall. 
The sensory table was once again busy with lots of children strengthening those fine motor skills and their imaginations building a variety of creations out of Knex.
We continued to discuss seasons and plants. We pretended to be trees with our feet as roots, our bodies as the trunks/stems, and our arms out as branches with leaves. We learned that plants, unlike animals, produce their own food using sunlight. We very gently pulled a spider plant from its’ pot and shook the dirt from the roots so we could examine all of the parts. 
The ocean theme also continued. A student brought in her shells and sea stars to share with the class. The children enjoyed some videos with Sue of a puffer fish puffing up when he felt threatened, then deflating when he felt safe, a giant octopus capturing and eating a shark, and an angler fish with his light lure hanging from his head. They shared what they learned during circle time with all of the other students.
We played some parachute games, including a new one called “Great White Shark,” where everyone keeps their feet very, very still under the parachute, and a great white shark swims around underneath until it “eats” someone by pulling on their feet. That person then becomes the great white shark and “eats” someone else. The children were so very careful to keep their feet still to make sure the “shark” was safe in the ocean. 
On Wednesday we had lots of cooks working together to mix up a batch of pancakes to eat with our maple syrup that we had purchased at the farmer’s market in the fall. So yummy!
Three fifth birthdays were celebrated this week! Each birthday child took a turn orbiting the sun five times, while everyone counted, then blowing out the candle after being serenaded with the “Happy Birthday” song. On Thursday we enjoyed delicious purple frosted cupcakes and gingerbread men. Friday students ate yummy chocolate or confetti cupcakes. 
For Friday science, we read about ways that ancient people measured and where an inch originated (the width of a thumb) and foot (the length of a foot), and how the first standard tools of measurement (rulers) were created based on the length of the “ruler’s” (king/emperor) thumb and feet. We did some BIG measuring. We took the tape measure outside and used it to measure large objects, including the sand box, balance beam, the fence, the garden, and a sled, and recorded our findings. 
The books we read: 
A Bad Case of Stripes by, David Shannon
A Tree for All Seasons by, Robin Bernard
Seed to Plant by, Kristin Baird Rattini
Pancakes, Pancakes! By, Eric Carle
Oh, No! by, Candace Fleming & Eric Rohmann
The Day the Crayons Quit by, Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers
A Boy and a Bear by, Lori Lite
How Tall, How Short, How Far Away by, David A. Adler
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by, Judi Barrett
New songs introduced:
Phytoplankton (Lyn’s accurate version of a food chain based on the song “Slippery Fish” – really, since when do whales eat sharks!?)
Our version goes: phytoplankton, bivalve mollusk, green crab, octopus, harbor seal, great white shark